Bubble algae

[Anonymous]

I've managed to spread bubble algae through all of my tanks now. My 100 gal office tank is just being taken over. I bought an emerald crab once but it immediately started ripping apart coral polyps, so I took it back, and basically ignored the problem and now it has gotten really out of hand. I have spent the last 4 hours trying to manually remove as much as I can, but there is still a hell of a lot in there, and I burst a few so there will be plenty more.

Since it is cyano, will an erythromycin nuclear option work?

 

[Anonymous]

I've managed to spread bubble algae through all of my tanks now. My 100 gal office tank is just being taken over. I bought an emerald crab once but it immediately started ripping apart coral polyps, so I took it back, and basically ignored the problem and now it has gotten really out of hand. I have spent the last 4 hours trying to manually remove as much as I can, but there is still a hell of a lot in there, and I burst a few so there will be plenty more.

Since it is cyano, will an erythromycin nuclear option work?

I didn't know it was cyano.

thought buble algae is a macro algae.

 

[Anonymous]

I didn't know it was cyano. thought buble algae is a macro algae.

AFAIK valonia (common name for bubble algae) is macro algae

The only way I know to eradicate it is to lower phosphates and manually pick the stuff off.

 

[Anonymous]

I put doubly-distilled, deionized water from the lab in the tank, so any phosphate in there comes in with the fish food. Sorry, I thought it was cyano.

 

[Anonymous]

I figured maybe you knew something I didn't

 

[Anonymous]

No, I am just getting senile.

 

[Anonymous]

Like people, not all crabs are equal.

Try a few... - Toss the ones that don't perform.

Or blend them into food.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't buy the spores spread it if you pop them idea. I haven't been able to track down where that idea came from, but I really haven't looked all that hard.

That said, I manually remove them, and then keep popping them till they go away. In some of my systems there are a few but I don't worry about them much. I am pretty sure rabbit fish go after them as well.

 

[Anonymous]

Or blend them into food.

If you feed the blended crab into your tank, they will spawn a million baby crabs if they are not eaten by the fish. The bubble algae reproduce the same way when you pop them. These two helpful hints are from the same person, Matt, so if you find the origin of one, you will find the source of the second one.

Seriously, if you look under the juice of the bubble algae with a microscope, and can't find anything resembling spore or living cell in there, chances are the blended crab have a higher chance of spawning than the popped macroalgae.

 

[Anonymous]

I put doubly-distilled, deionized water from the lab in the tank, so any phosphate in there comes in with the fish food. Sorry, I thought it was cyano.

Yep and no surprise there. ammonia, nitrates, and phosphates come overwhelming from the bioload not the water being used.

What I did with the one tank with bubble algae was lower lighting (actually a ballast blew and I was too lazy to replace :lol: ) and started adding kalk. Just a teaspoon in top off water, plus the diy 2 part. The lower lighting was actually actinic.

nitrates were unmeasureable (api test kit) as well as phosphates (salifert kit, absolutely no red tinge ever).

I did have a refugium with chaeto and red grape algae attached to the return lines and spread in the display.

the only fish were clowns no crabs. (29g tank)

Over a period of months the bubble died off and corraline spread.

My .02

 

[Anonymous]

I figured maybe you knew something I didn't

+1

 

[Anonymous]

No, I am just getting senile.

U 2?

Now what was the subject? :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

I put doubly-distilled, deionized water from the lab in the tank, so any phosphate in there comes in with the fish food. Sorry, I thought it was cyano.

Yep and no surprise there. ammonia, nitrates, and phosphates come oerwhelming from the bioload not the water being used.

What I did with the one tank with bubble algae was lower lighting (actually a ballast blew and I was too lazy to replace :lol: ) and started adding kalk. Just a teaspoon in top off water, plus the diy 2 part. The lower lighting was actually actinic.

nitrates were unmeasureable (api test kig) as well as phosphates (salifert kit, absolutely no red tinge ever).

I did have a refugium with chaeto and red grape algae attached to the return lines and spread in the display.

the only fish were clowns no crabs. (29g tank)

Over a period of months the bubble died off and corraline spread.

My .02

I've got 4 fish in 100 gallons.

I have corraline coating everything (including some bubble algae).

 

[Anonymous]

Bill, just pop it and remove it. You should get ahead of it quickly.

 

[Ben1]

I had that problem at one point as well. I also just pulled it out with long forceps, didnt care if it popped or not, and got rid of it that way.

 

[Anonymous]

I got rid of them with the use of GFO and manually pulling them out with forceps. Blowing out the rocks with a turkey baster I think helped. The Emerald Crab did nothing for me IME.

 

[Anonymous]

rabbitfish? Fox-Face?

 

[Anonymous]

Fox eats rabbit. Fish eat fish, some fish eat algae. Fox face rabbit fish.
Siganus vulpinus, to be a little more precise. Don't get stuck.

 

[Anonymous]

having had one land right onto the palm of my hand when spines were flexed, I can attest.. don't get stuck.

Also don't get a foxface, they are absolute beasts when it comes to eating algae to be sure, however some are picky, may not each as much as you hope, and they might nibble on corals just for kicks and giggles.

 

[Anonymous]

Since no one mentioned water changes, I'll be the badguy and say: "Do more waterchanges!". Nutrient export... Yadda. I know, redundant. Do more waterchanges. You prolly are, which is why no one mentioned them. But I'm new in town, so forgive my bad manners